


Light Sleeper

by noctgarr



Category: Death Note (Anime & Manga)
Genre: M/M, Sleeping Together
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-15
Updated: 2018-07-15
Packaged: 2019-06-10 19:19:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,034
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15298287
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/noctgarr/pseuds/noctgarr
Summary: Keeping Light chained to him seemed like a perfectly reasonable idea, until of course, it was time to sleep. Such close quarters unearthed a dilemma that L wasn't ready to admit he had.





	Light Sleeper

Sleeping had become a dreaded affair. The duo had made an unspoken promise to forego it for the past thirty-six hours, pouring over case files while they nursed on their third cup of coffee of the night. Of course such a practice was inefficient, and beyond that, unsustainable. The unforeseen consequence of their bondage loomed anxiously over L's head like an anvil, and like the rope that kept it precariously suspended, his wits began to fray. No matter how the younger man sighed or how strung out he appeared, he couldn't be left overnight without supervision.

They would have to sleep together.

The ambient orange glow of the bedside lamp exists in stark contrast to the light that had radiated off their monitors and painted their skin a sickly grey. Light truly lived up to his name in this new environment. He almost appeared to glow, strands of his hair caught the lamp's rays behind him, and what light managed to bleed onto his skin only softened the shadows on his youthful face. The warmth of the scene only made the bed look that much more tantalizing, but still L hesitated where he stood at the foot of it, biting his nail. L cast his gaze away when the man pulled his shirt over his head, only to turn back when he felt the weight of something strung up on the chain between them.

"Must we really stay chained while we sleep?" Light asked, lifting his arm and calling attention to the ridiculousness of what once was a symbol of L's distrust; it had become nothing more than a clothes line now. "Haven't I proven myself trustworthy?"

L's eyes widened at the question. Something had changed in Light recently, something softened, his heart made demure. It was his eyes that made him so frustratingly easy to trust now. No longer were they the eyes of a killer, but the eyes of a normal young man. It made L appear as though he was the monster. Without taking his gaze off the boy, he unlocked the handcuff and let his shirt slide off the chain and on to the ground. Light's face brightened at first, displaying a naivety that was uncharacteristic of him, but it wasn't enough to clear his name, so L promptly cuffed him again. 

"I'll take that as a no then."

With arms outstretched and the chain pulled taut between them, they positioned themselves on opposite ends of the bed and rolled onto it, one after the other.

"...You are trustworthy." L muttered after a long delay, eyes wide and doll-like in their observation of the spackled ceiling. "But you weren't before. That is why I can't trust you now."

His gaze remained unblinking as he turned his cheek to the pillow, meeting Light's quizzical stare. Once the lamp had dimmed, only the light of Tokyo permeated the room, making Light's skin appear delicate like flower petals, and now he can see that pink blossomed under his eyes from hours without rest.

"Then, I must warn you I'm a terribly light sleeper." The man smirked at his own pun, tossing his free hand into the air melodramatically. "I'll toss and turn all night, and this chain will only make a mess of the covers. You've made your bed and now we will both lie in it."

L finally blinked, slowly, and not unlike an amphibian, trying to process the youth's attempt at humorー then rolling over pointedly, voice carelessly flung over his shoulder.

"Try to avoid that."

 

L awakened to find that only an hour had passed, but even so, the temperature of the room had managed to spike to a fever's pitch. His sweater clung to his back and the covers had been long since kicked away in his sleep. This was nothing new. He wasn't exactly known to sleep through the night. The neurons of his brain often got caught up firing off down a million different paths, always chasing someone, always looking for a way to pry inside their mind. 

What was different was the warmth of the presence behind himー and he meant warmth in every sense of the word. It's true that L had never shared a bed, and doing so was more humid than he expected. Not a problem exactly, but different for sure. When he finally rolled onto his back and faced the reason for the heat under their sheets, there lay a completely different man than the one he had come to know. 

Was he wrong about the coldness in his heart? The guilt would be too much to bear if that was the case. This game of cat and mouse had gone too far to be expressing doubts _now_ , butー

His timid hand flattened out over the soft skin he had been admiring all night, though it was now dampened with sweat from a fretful sleep.

"Light. You're dreaming." He stated plainly, it was less a statement of comfort as it was one of awe. Of all the times Light had desperately tried to prove his humanity, this was the first time he had truly expressed it. Contorted with fear, his face spoke volumes of his innocence; more than his lips ever could. Burnt amber eyes suddenly flashed in the dark when L's hand cupped the other man's cheek. It was a dangerous path L had begun to follow. Caring about him.

"Detective!" Light gasped, clutching his wrist desperately with a dry sob. His head shook from side to side, a silent prayer. "...Do you really think I did this? I have such horrible images in my head. P-please, I can't get them out."

Dangerous, indeed. 

"Images?" He pried deeper, head cocked and fingertips tracing over Light's hairline and along his ear. "Are you sure you want to be telling me this?"

"Please..."

Wide, black eyes cast their gaze down, L's chest tightening at the fists that curled in his sweater and tugged him in closer than the chain between them ever had. Before he could even begin to process the reason why, his arm found itself draped around Light's quivering frame.

"Please, tell me I'm innocent."

"...I sincerely hope that you are."


End file.
